Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – On Tuesday, January 21, Mayor Arturo Dávalos Peña met with local business owners and members of the Colonia Emiliano Zapata Neighborhood Association to listen to their concerns and jointly address several issues of great interest for those living and working in the city’s Romantic Zone.
The discussions basically focused on parking on public roads and existing doubts about the installation of parking meters, as well as this year’s increase in permit fees for those who have reserved street parking spaces for private use or as loading zones.
Regarding the issue of parking, the mayor said that the increase in fees for parking permits, which this year was added to La Ley de Ingresos del Municipio (Municipal income laws), aims to bring order to the city’s parking situation. Especially in spaces that for years have been reserved for the loading and unloading of cargo or passengers.
“These spaces will continue to be respected, but those who have them will have to pay more for the privilege,” he added.
Likewise, he explained that, in lieu of parking meters, the implementation of a ‘virtual parking permit’ system in four of the city’s most congested areas – Marina Vallarta, downtown Pitillal, El Centro, and the Romantic Zone – has been proposed to reduce parking problems on these busy streets.
Dávalos Peña added that there were already talks with the residents of Marina Vallarta and the City Center about implementing the virtual permit system, which has proved to work well in other cities, and that they seemed to be open to the idea.
Similarly, those attending Tuesday’s meeting said they were interested in learning more about the initiative and agreed to meet the Mayor again next week, so that a representative of the virtual parking company can explain the system in detail, including its scope and associated costs.
The mayor said that 50 percent of the resources generated by the collection of parking fees would be used by the city to maintain and improve roads in these specific areas, and the remaining 50 percent would go to the colonias.
He also raised some ideas and asked those present at the meeting to offer alternative solutions for employees of hotels and businesses in these areas, so that they are not affected by these measures.
Finally, the mayor thanked the members of this association for their visit and reiterated his willingness to continue working as a team to solve the problem in this area since, “what is good for local business owners and residents is good for Puerto Vallarta.”
He pointed out that the Municipal Government does its part by providing public services to the people of Puerto Vallarta, and the businessmen and hoteliers do their part to welcome visitors and encourage their return, which ultimately generates jobs for Vallarta families.
Source: puertovallarta.gob.mx